Kurta's Moving Castle
by ChocolatteKitty-Kat
Summary: Leorio is a young medical student in the middle of a war. While he studies for his final exams, he works in an infirmary away from the front lines. One day, he is rescued from a brawl by a mysterious stranger. A curse, a giant chicken, and a storm later, he finds himself swept off into a whole new adventure...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so I wasn't going to post this just yet, until I had a few more chapters finished, but... It's just so fun I couldn't help myself! I make no promises that the next chapter will come particularly soon, but we'll see what happens (aka how work goes for me this week...). Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! I'm really having a lot of fun writing this story, so I hope you all have fun reading it too! Please let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you may recognize from either Hunter X Hunter or Howl's Moving Castle. However, I do own this particular story! Cross-posting between ChocolatteKitty-Kat on FFnet and Ao3 and maliciousbubbl3s on Tumblr.**

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio leaned back in his chair and sighed, slinging his arm over his eyes.

_Knock knock_.

"Come in!" Leorio called, sitting himself back up.

"Hello, Leorio," Melody's soft voice chimed from the doorway. "The infirmary is closed for the day. You don't have night watch tonight; do you want to come out with the rest of us?"

"No, that's okay," Leorio half-turned to look at her. "I want to get some more studying done tonight."

"Are you sure?" there was a gentle admonishment in Melody's tone. "You can't stay cooped up in here forever."

"It won't be forever," Leorio grinned. "Just until I graduate with my M.D."

Melody laughed. "I suppose that's fair. Well, if you change your mind, the rest of us will be over at Forger's."

"Okay," Leorio had already turned back to the textbooks spread across his desk. He heard the _click_ of the door settling back into its latch and sighed again. _Soon_, he promised himself. _Soon. Final exams are in a few weeks, and then you'll be able to go out with the others._

.*.*.*.*.*.

Despite his best intentions, Leorio found himself unable to focus. Finally, after being distracted by the whistle of the train outside for the fourth time in an hour, he slammed his book shut and stood up with such force that his chair fell backwards to the floor. "One night won't hurt," he declared to the closed window in front of him. "I'll come back and study tomorrow. Maybe even later tonight!"

With that decided, he grabbed his jacket and was off. He waved at a few of the nurses and field doctors who were still around despite the late hour on his way out the door, but didn't pay much attention to them. He hadn't really taken the time to get to know anyone at the field hospital. Melody he'd known before, and she was the one who introduced him to Zepile, owner and bartender of Forger's, the best bar in town. They were his only two friends in this lonely place…

Outside, the air was crisp and clear, and smelled of locomotive smoke and fall. The town had really cleaned up for the parade of soldiers passing through. Leorio hadn't gone to the display that afternoon; he was too busy in the infirmary taking care of the wounded from the war-the true heroes, as far as he was concerned-to laud those who had spent the battles watching from the background. He pushed the war out of his mind. There were no signs of it on a night like tonight, after all. No sense in spoiling a perfectly good evening with something so foul as senseless fighting.

Leorio took the long way to Forger's. It was nice enough to do so, and he could avoid the parties of visiting soldiers spilling out of just about every bar or restaurant by taking the back streets. Unfortunately, he didn't actually know the back streets particularly well, and soon found himself lost as the sun dipped below the distant hills.

Leorio was trying to get his bearings when he ran into… someone. He staggered backwards, a rebuke on his lips (despite fully knowing that he was the one at fault) until he saw the bright blue and red uniform on the man in front of him. He immediately swallowed his pride and muttered an apology, attempting to continue on his way.

"Hey!" the blond soldier-he probably would have been attractive in _any_ other situation, uniform or not, Leorio mused-barked, grabbing Leorio's arm as he tried to brush past. "Watch where you're going, buddy!"

"I said I was sorry," Leorio kept his voice meek and his eyes directed at the ground. Maybe if the guy thought he was a coward, he'd let him go. In truth, it was everything Leorio could do not to punch the soldier in his smug, pretty face.

"Mousy little thing, aren't you?" the blond laughed, shoving Leorio back into the stone wall behind him.

_Little?_ Leorio, who stood head and shoulders over the brawnier soldier, arched an eyebrow.

"What's going on over here?" an even gruffer voice called from the nearest doorway. Leorio didn't find it hopeful; the only person who would consider getting involved in a dispute with a soldier was another soldier.

"This little mouse bumped into me and thought he could get away without apologizing," the first soldier called back.

The man who stepped into view sent Leorio's heart into his mouth. He was huge; easily as tall as Leorio, and twice as broad. His biceps were thicker than Leorio's thighs-and Leorio didn't consider himself a small man. "I, uh… I did apologize, actually. It was just a little… quiet?" Leorio stammered.

He didn't even see the fist coming.

The blond soldier's punch hit him square over his left eye and cheekbone, and sent his head slamming back into the stone wall, effectively dazing him.

"Ow," Leorio mumbled.

"You calling me a liar, pretty boy?" the blond sneered, grabbing Leorio by the jaw.

_Oh. That's what he wants._

The other soldier was already pinning Leorio in from the other side, reaching up to grab his tie. He leaned in close enough for Leorio to feel his bristling mustache and smell his breath-heavy with alcohol-and spoke: "It's not smart to tell lies to people like us."

"Hello there."

Three heads snapped around to find the source of the new voice. Leorio's heart pounded with terror on behalf of the new arrival. A small, slight blond with shaggy hair and perfectly tailored clothing stood in the dark alleyway a few feet from them, hand on his hip and head cocked to the side.

"What's going on here, darling?"

_Is he talking to me..?_

"You with this guy?" the big soldier laughed. "You're way out of his league."

"Yeah, you should stick around with us for a little while," the blond soldier simpered. "We can _really_ show you a good time."

"Too bad," the new arrival sighed.

"'Too bad'?" the blond soldier repeated.

"Too bad you two were _just leaving_," the gentleman-because, with clothes like those, despite his haircut, he _had_ to be something more than just a normal townsperson-twirled a finger in the air.

The two soldiers snapped to attention, saluted Leorio, and marched down the alley, past the cute blond, protesting the entire way.

"Wha-uh, what just happened?" Leorio mumbled as the blond appeared at his side-Leorio didn't even see him move-and slotted himself against Leorio, draping Leorio's arm over his shoulders.

"Just a little fun," the blond smiled up at him through his messy golden hair. "They're harmless, really, they just need to be reminded of that every now and then." He started walking, pulling Leorio with him.

"'Harmless'?" Leorio didn't even try to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Where were you heading?"

"Oh, uh… Forger's. It's a bar."

"I know the place," the blond said. "Just stay close, and act natural. I'm being followed, and by something more dangerous than those two."

"I'm sorry, what?" Leorio looked around. He thought he saw a shadow in the alley behind them, but couldn't be sure.

"I said 'act natural'," the blond hissed. "I may not know you, but I don't think that's natural."

"Sorry, but I got a little concerned when you said you were _being followed by something dangerous_," Leorio grumbled, doing his best to keep his attention on the alley ahead.

"Too late."

"Wait, what?" Leorio panicked.

"Run."

And then the blond was pulling him along, racing down the alleyway faster than Leorio thought was humanly possible.

"Hey, you do know this is a dead end, right!?" Leorio yelped. There were definitely moving shadows all around them now.

"Not a problem!" the blond sang out. "Jump!"

They jumped.

They jumped up, and up, and up, and then… they were sailing through the air, over the rooftops of the buildings that had surrounded them moments before.

"Don't look down!" the wind nearly stole the blond's voice away, but the warning came just in time, as Leorio had been about to look behind them for the shadows. "They can't fly like I can. We'll lose them this way, at least long enough for me to drop you off."

The flight didn't last nearly long enough. Before Leorio knew it, they were beginning to descend, and then the blond was slipping out from under his arm and depositing him on the balcony of Forger's.

"I'll lead them away, don't worry," he smiled, not unkindly, down at Leorio before turning and taking a leap off of the balcony railing.

"Wait!" Leorio shouted, racing to the edge and peering down, half-expecting to see his newfound friend splattered over the cobblestones below. Instead, he saw a huge black bird soaring up from the courtyard and away into the night sky, shadows flitting along the ground behind it. "I didn't even get your name…" Leorio sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I have no self-control, so here's chapter 2 already...

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

.*.*.*.*.*.

"I have so many questions," Zepile sighed, handing Leorio a towel-wrapped bundle of ice cubes to hold against the throbbing bruise on his face.

"So do I," Leorio grumbled.

"What happened?" Melody asked gently.

"I'm not really sure," Leorio sighed. "One minute, I was getting punched by this soldier, and the next I was running around with some cute blond _twink_, who, by the way, saved me from said soldier and his beefcake buddy."

"But how did you end up on the balcony?" Zepile demanded, passing Leorio a drink and ignoring another customer at the end of the bar in favor of Leorio's story.

"I'm… not really sure," Leorio sighed. "I think… I think we flew, but that's not possible. I probably just hit my head harder than I realized."

"You know who flying _isn't_ impossible for?" Zepile poured the other customer's drink and slid it down the bartop. "Wizards. Wizards can do anything, and flying counts as anything. They said the Moving Castle was spotted out at the near edge of the Wastes recently. Maybe you ran into its wizard."

"Kurapika?" Leorio laughed. "He's as much of a legend as that castle. And anyways, the legends say that he only goes after the Spiders. They don't say anything about rescuing damsels-or doctors-in distress."

Zepile shrugged and crossed his arms. "You never know."

"The legends _also_ say that Kurapika steals the hearts of the people he meets and eats them," Leorio retorted. "Clearly, I still have my heart."

"Are you sure?" Melody teased. "I've been able to hear yours pound since we found you on that balcony. Maybe he stole it figuratively, not literally."

Leorio bit back a retort, opting instead to curse Melody's inhuman hearing, and chugged more of the drink Zepile had passed him than was probably advisable, given his head wound. He stood up, just barely catching his stool before it could fall to the floor, and handed the now-damp towel back to Zepile. "Look, whatever, happened, it kind of killed my desire for a night out. I'm just going to head back. I'll see you two later."

"Are you sure?" Melody asked, instantly worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Leorio sighed. "I just want to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, don't be a stranger, okay?" Zepile said. "You haven't been coming around much. It's been too quiet around here!"

Leorio glanced around the nearly-empty bar. "I'm not really sure that's my fault," he laughed. "I'll start coming by more often once I pass my final exams, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Zepile sighed. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Leorio called over his shoulder, already on his way out the door.

Thankfully, his trip home was far less eventful.

.*.*.*.*.*.

When Leorio got into the infirmary, he locked the door behind him. It had been a long night, even though he hadn't even been gone a full two hours, and he was ready for bed. He peeked into the main ward, where long lines of occupied beds stretched down the length of the huge room, broken here and there by curtained dividers to give patients a modicum of privacy. At the far end, the night nurse and on-call doctor had set up a card table and were playing a game. They glanced in Leorio's direction when the light from his candle illuminated the entry, offering small waves and shushing motions when they recognized him. He held up a hand, partly in greeting, partly in apology for any disturbance he may have caused, and slipped back out into the waiting room.

When Leorio turned around, he had to stifle a shriek. Directly behind him—literally, the guy was only about two steps behind him—stood a well-built, well-dressed man, not much older than Leorio himself. His dark hair was slicked back so that it actually _glinted_ in the moonlight (Leorio couldn't quite tell if it shone from grease or gel, and he didn't much care to ask), and an eerie smile, unechoed in his dark eyes, played across his lips.

"Um, hi…" Leorio squeaked, sidestepping to put the reception desk between himself and the stranger. "Can I, uh, help you?"

No response.

"The main part of the infirmary is closed right now actually—I could have sworn I locked that door—but if you have an emergency, I can take you back into the ward to see the doctor on call."

The man arched a deliberate eyebrow. "Why would I come to a dingy little place like this if I were injured? I'd be more concerned about the risk of infection than the injury itself."

Leorio glanced around at the infirmary's spotless walls and floor. _Dingy?_ "Sir, I think it's best you leave," he drew himself up to his full height, an easy six inches over the stranger, and marched towards the door, yanking it open—a little harder than was strictly necessary—and holding it there.

The man grinned a wicked smile, all teeth and no emotion, and swept forward, his coat billowing behind him. As he approached, he picked up speed, and Leorio couldn't help but flinch back into the wall as the man passed him—passed _through_ him?—and vanished into the deep shadows in the street lamps. As he blew past, Leorio thought he heard the words "_And you won't be able to tell anyone if you try!_" sung gleefully on the wind.

When Leorio tried to straighten himself, he discovered that he couldn't quite seem to reach his full height. The more he stretched, the more pains shot through his back, and the more _snap, crackle, pops_ he heard, echoing vaguely in the empty waiting room. "What the…" his voice trailed off as he caught sight of his reflection in the nearest window.

_No. Fucking. Way._

He bolted back towards the dormitory he shared with a few of the visiting doctors and nurses. The whole way, his ankles, knees, hips, and even spine continued to pop and crack, and his legs were unsteady as he tottered along the hallway, which suddenly seemed about three times as long as normal. By the time he reached his room, he was gasping for breath.

Only once the door was securely latched behind him did Leorio risk a glance in the mirror over his washbasin. He was unable to contain the inhuman _sound_ that escaped his mouth at the sight.

"What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?" He chanted the phrase like a mantra, pawing at the wrinkled skin that now covered his face with long, thin fingers covered with even _more_ wrinkly skin. His knuckles and wrists were knobbly, and throbbed with a deep-seated burning ache. Now that he noticed it, the ache was everywhere—every joint in his legs, his wrists, his elbows, even his shoulders, and a long streak of fire ran up his back, along his spinal cord.

_This isn't possible. I'm seeing things. I hit my head, and the drink at Zepile's is coming at me harder than I expected. I'm hallucinating. I'm dreaming. Maybe I'm dead back in that alleyway and this _whole night _has been a dream._ He wasn't sure which possibility he preferred. He took a deep breath, ignoring the rattle in his chest and the fact that it somehow made him even _more_ out of breath to do so, and steadied himself against the small table that housed the washbasin. "Just go to bed, Leorio. Everything will be fine in the morning."

Somehow, saying it out loud didn't help him believe it.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Sleeping wasn't as easy as Leorio had hoped. He got in a few hours, but when the sun came up, it found him seated on the edge of his bed, bundled in a blanket against the chill of the night. Sleeping also hadn't proved the cure for Leorio's sudden aging. He actually felt somehow _older_ by the time the sun came up.

By the time Melody knocked on his door, he had resigned himself to his fate.

"Leorio?" her gentle voice seemed as loud through the light door as if she were standing next to him.

"Don't come in!" he croaked in reply. "I've got a really bad cold, and I don't want you to get it. Too many nights up studying late. Can you tell Cheadle I need to take the day off?"

"Of course," Melody's voice was sympathetic. "You do sound awful. I'll pass on the message, and I'll be back up to check on you after lunch, okay? Call down if you need anything."

"I'll be fine, thanks," Leorio called back. "No need to check in. I'll let you know if I need anything."

He listened to her light footsteps fading away. Through the floor of his room, he could hear the residents of the dormitory eating breakfast before heading to their shifts.

_I'll have to time this carefully._

Leorio had made up his mind shortly after waking up to realize that he, quite literally, hadn't gotten any younger. _I can't be a doctor if I can't use my hands. No sense staying around here to be a burden to anyone, not to mention they'd probably make me a subject of scientific study, since I can't tell them what happened._ He'd already tried to talk about the curse—because what else could it be?—to his reflection in the mirror, but whenever he tried his jaw would lock up and the words would stick in his throat.

Leorio gathered up his things, packing only a few extra changes of clothes and his most comprehensive notebooks—_just because I can't be a doctor doesn't mean I can't be a medic in a pinch_—listening carefully to the activity below. He would only have a short window of time before the hired cooks finished making breakfast and started cleaning up from breakfast, while they were eating. As soon as he heard the sounds of cooking stop, he bolted down to the kitchen. At least, he did whatever the 90-year-old grandpa version of "bolting" was.

He only snitched a few things from the kitchen: a loaf of bread, a chunk off a wheel of cheese, a few apples, some dried meat. Once these were securely bundled in a kerchief and tucked into the top of his rucksack, he stepped outside. Immediately, he was glad he had put on his good coat, because the autumn chill that had been so brisk and pleasant the day before was now biting and frigid, cutting straight to the bones of his exposed hands and face. He yanked his hat further down over his ears, shoved his hands in his pockets, and appreciated his heavy knit scarf as he headed for the edge of the city.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio was fortunate enough to score a ride on a cart traveling out to one of the more distant farms between the city and the wastes. The farmer and his son were nice, and his wife tried to persuade Leorio to spend the night in their hayloft, insisting that it was far too dangerous for a gentleman of his stature (meaning: age) to wander out in the wastes in this weather (clear, but chilly). Leorio politely but insistently refused, promising that he wasn't going much further, just out far enough to visit an old friend, and he would reach his destination long before nightfall.

Clearly, it was all a lie.

As Leorio trudged up the hill past the farm, bundled up tightly in his coat and scarf, he bemoaned his fate. With the city laid out before him like a painting, he seriously considered going back to the infirmary. _Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they wouldn't use me as a test subject. _But, as he gnawed on a piece of hard cheese, he knew that he was just lying to himself.

He already missed Melody and Zepile, too. It wasn't fair to run off and leave them wondering about his fate, and he knew that. _I should have left a note_. Melody was so kind and caring; his disappearance might send her into a panic (realistically, Leorio knew her well enough to know that was unlikely). Zepile wouldn't be as frantic, but Leorio knew he would worry too. Leorio sighed and stood up as abruptly as he could, wincing at the _pops_ that burst from his knees and hips.

"No point thinking about what I should've or could've done," he declared to the open air, trying to get used to the sound of his new voice. "Looking on the bright side, I'm pretty healthy, aside from the obvious rheumatism. I don't think I'm senile, and I still have all of my teeth. Things could be worse!"

He turned around and nearly screamed. Standing behind him, for some reason, was an enormous chicken with brilliant red plumage atop its head.

"_Who the fuck are you?_" Leorio wheezed.

The bird cocked its head to the side, as though it was asking Leorio what exactly he meant by that question.

Leorio took a shaky step backwards, fully aware that he was much older than he was used to being and a simple fall could prove disastrous. "Look… friend… I'm not gonna lie to you: I've never really been a fan of chickens. I mean, you're better than pigeons—I swear those damn things are out to get me sometimes—but I just really don't like birds, and you in particular are _way _bigger than any bird is supposed to be and… I don't like that."

The bird cocked her head—Leorio didn't know why he thought it was a girl, he just _did_—and gave a gentle _squawk_.

Leorio sighed. "Well, if you're determined to stick around… I don't suppose you could help me find a cane or a staff or something in those woods over there, could you?"

The bird _chirruped_ happily and bounded away, head held high so that her feathers flounced in her wake.

"Well, I guess that worked pretty well…" Leorio mumbled, hurriedly packing up his supplies and heading off. The way he saw it, this was a win-win situation: either the bird never came back, or she brought him a cane of some kind to walk with. He spared a thought to her intelligence. _Maybe she's cursed too?_

To his surprise, it wasn't long before the bird was fluttering along behind him, half-flying in her excitement, a long, knobby stick clutched in her beak. She skidded to a stop beside him and dropped the stick at—nearly on—his feet, cocking her head proudly to the side like she was waiting for adulation. Leorio had to chuckle and reached out to scratch her neck.

"Good girl," he sighed. "Now"—(and this one he was really, _truly_ proud of)—"what do you think about finding me somewhere warm and dry to sleep tonight? It looks like it could storm any minute."

The bird let out an ecstatic screech and took off, racing along the winding, hilly road. Leorio arched an eyebrow and chuckled to himself. _Old people are craftier than I ever have them credit for._

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio never expected to see the bird again. Therefore, it was one of the biggest shocks in his life when she sprinted back into view, screaming wildly.

"_What the hell_!?" he squawked, unwilling to admit how much he sounded like the bird in that moment.

The true source of his shock, however, was not the bird racing towards him, but instead the massive, disheveled _building _lumbering along behind it. "The Moving Castle," he gaped, recognition striking him like a lightning bolt. "Kurapika's palace… _that's_ what passes for a castle these days?"

In the time it took him to make these observations, the bird had latched onto his scarf with her beak, half unwinding it. It tried to tug him towards the castle, which was already nearly on top of them. "Okay, _fine_, I'm coming!" Leorio yelped, stumbling forward.

He ran towards the castle as fast as his aching legs would carry him, dodging spindly legs and a low-hanging doorstep. He gulped and grabbed onto the railing of the step as it flashed past him, his arm nearly ripping out of its socket as he was yanked along behind the castle. While he struggled to keep up, he felt his scarf tear away from his neck, fluttering away in the wind that had picked up as the storm began to pick up. "My scarf!" he shouted, grabbing at it with his free hand, to no avail. The bird sprinted off after the garment, and Leorio gave them both up.

With not a small amount of effort on his part, Leorio eventually managed to haul himself up onto the stoop of the lumbering castle. He laid back on the steps and gasped for breath. When he heard a tremendous _squawk_ off somewhere in the distance, he propped himself up on his elbows. To his lessening surprise (considering how many times it had happened at this point), the giant chicken was racing towards him, his scarf clutched in her beak.

"Thanks!" Leorio shouted to be heard over the noise of the wind and the creaking of the castle's alarmingly skinny legs as he reached out to take his scarf from the bird. "Look, I hate to leave you out here in this weather on your own, but it would be a shame to have climbed up here just to decide not to go inside." He opened the door and popped his head in, then turned around to look at the bird again. "It's nice and warm inside. I could do worse. Thanks for all your help, bird! Maybe we'll meet again someday!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter X Hunter, Howl's Moving Castle, or anything you may recognize from either franchise. I do, however, own this story! Cross-posting to and Ao3 as ChocolatteKitty-Kat, and Tumblr as maliciousbubbl3s**

.*.*.*.*.*.

Inside, the castle truly was incredibly toasty, at least in temperature. Leorio did his best to ignore the absolute mess that covered just about every inch of the… kitchen? Dining room? He couldn't quite tell what he had stepped into, but based on the large wooden table covered in detritus, the fire burning in a large open hearth, and the precarious stacks of dishes and provisions in an alcove off to his left, he was fairly certain that the room served one of those functions. He grabbed one of the chairs from the table and dragged it over to a clear spot in front of the hearth. The seat had a low, flat cushion that made it just comfortable enough to settle himself into. He propped his feet up on the hearth, wrapped his wide scarf around his shoulders like a shawl, and leaned back in the chair.

"Wow."

Leorio's eyes popped open and he searched the room frantically for the search of the voice.

"Down here, grandpa."

Leorio's gaze finally settled on the hearth in front of him. The fire, which had been burning low and orange when he sat down, had perked up into a bright white blaze, the tendrils of which almost seemed to flicker with… lightning? A pair of brilliant blue eyes peered out of the bottom part of the flame, unblinking and bored.

Leorio nodded to himself. "A talking fire. Looks like I really have gone crazy."

"Hey! Watch it, old man!" the fire snapped, roaring a little higher towards the chimney. "Oh… wait a minute… Huh. That's quite the curse you've got on you."

"How could you tell?"

"I'm a fire demon. I could sense a curse like that in my sleep."

"If you can sense it, can you break it too?"

"Ummm… No."

"Oh. I guess you're not a very strong demon, then," Leorio yawned and leaned back in his chair.

"Hey!" the fire snapped. "I meant I can't do it right _now_, not that I can't do it at all."

"Oh?" Leorio opened an eye to peer at the talking flame.

"Look, I'm in a contract with the wizard of this place," the fire sighed. "As long as I'm in that contract, I can't help you, unless Kurapika tells me to. _But_, if you can get me out of the contract before Kurapika gets me killed-or gets himself killed, either one's a possibility with that guy-I'll break your curse."

"I don't know," Leorio sighed. "I don't know how I feel about making a deal with a demon…"

"This isn't a deal!" the fire said hurriedly. "It's more of a… you scratch my figurative back, I scratch yours. Look, I don't wanna die, you don't wanna be… that for forever. We can help each other out."

Leorio yawned. "I guess when you put it that way it makes sense… But I don't even know your name!"

"I'm Killua, the fire demon," the flame grinned wickedly. "And you?"

"Leorio. Leorio Paladiknight." He yawned again. "Nice to meet you. It's good to have a friend in a situation like this…"

In seconds, Leorio was snoring-loudly. Killua glared at him. "You better not turn out to be useless, old man. I may not be an evil demon, but I can be vicious when I want to me. If you don't get me my freedom, I'll turn you into something worse than just old."

.*.*.*.*.*.

_Bangbangbang._

Leorio woke confused. _Melody doesn't usually knock that loud_… he mused briefly. When he cracked his eyes open and looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling, he immediately remembered where he was.

_Bangbangbang_.

There was a clatter of footsteps down the steps at the back of the room, and Leorio immediately slumped further into the chair and began mock-snoring loudly.

"Who's this, Killua?" a child's voice called.

_Bangbangbang_.

"Port Zaban door!" the talking fire sang out.

"Right," the child chirped. "Everyone ready?" There was no time for an actual response before the door open.

"Good morning," the child's voice was now falsely-deepened.

"Good morning, sir," came the polite voice of an actual adult. Leorio craned his neck to peer towards the door.

_That's not the wastes._

"Is this the residence of the wizard Jenkins?"

"It is, but the wizard is not in right now. However, I speak in my master's place."

"I was asked to pass this message along to the wizard."

"I will make sure he gets it."

"Thank you. Have a good day."

By the time the boy—clad in an oversized cloak and enormous fake beard—closed the door and turned around, Leorio had given up all pretense of sleep and was staring slack-jawed through the portal.

"Who are you?" the boy asked eagerly, bounding up the stairs and throwing his hood back-the beard disappeared when he did.

"Uh, I'm Leorio," he stammered.

"Killua, where did he come from?" the boy asked, tossing the cloak over a chair.

"He wandered in from the wastes last night," the fire replied with a sigh.

"From the wastes! Are you sure he's not a witch?" the boy stared at Leorio with an expression that suggested he wouldn't really care either way.

"Like I would ever let a witch in here," Killua scoffed. "He's basically harmless."

_Knock knock._

"Swaldani door!" Killua sang out.

The boy grabbed the cloak and swung it back over his shoulders. When he pulled the hood up, the fake beard reappeared to obscure his face. Leorio watched as he hurried over to the door, turned the knob—a colored dial on the wall turned too, finally settling on the color red—and then pulled the door's handle to open it. A whole new city was visible outside, along with a tall, skinny man with long, silky black hair.

"From the magician, for Pendragon," the man said in a bored tone, flicking a piece of paper towards the disguised child in front of him.

"I will make sure to pass the message on to my master." The boy's tone was once again artificially gruff.

The man shrugged and turned away, and the boy closed the door behind him. Leorio stood up and walked over to the window. "Isn't this… the capitol?" he peered out the window, marvelling at the sights outside.

"Yes, and?" the boy sighed. He had thrown back his hood once again and hopped up onto a precarious stack of books to stand beside Leorio.

"It's just… I came in from the Wastes. How did we get here? And what about that other city from earlier?"

"Magic castle, remember? Powered by a fire demon? That door can lead any number of places at once." Even though he didn't have shoulders, a bored shrug could be heard through Killua's voice.

"Anyways, I'm hungry. Do you want breakfast?" the boy hopped off the stack of books and Leorio took a moment to look him over. He was all elbows and knees, dressed in a smart green vest and shorts, although his disheveled black hair contrasted with his neat clothing. "I'm Gon, by the way! What's your name?"

"You mean we can't just call him old man?" Killua smirked in the fireplace, ignoring the dirty look Leorio shot him.

"I'm Leorio," he replied, extending a wizened, knobby-jointed hand to the boy, who shook it. Leorio grimaced when they pulled apart; some sort of sticky residue had transferred from Gon's hand to his.

"Do you want breakfast, Leorio?" Gon called over his shoulder, bounding towards an overflowing cabinet that seemed to serve as a pantry. He fished out a loaf of bread and a wedge of cheese and headed for the table.

"Don't you want something hot to eat?" Leorio asked, peering into the mess. "There's bacon and eggs here! Why don't we have that?"

"I'd love to, but Master Kurapika's not here," Gon sighed, shoving the mess on the table back and away so he could set the bread and cheese down.

"That's fine, I can cook," Leorio waved a hand dismissively, scooping up his ingredients and a long-handled cast iron skillet before heading towards Killua.

"It's not about knowing how to cook, it's that Master Kurapika is the only one who can control Killua!" Gon explained. He watched in fascination as Leorio began to wrestle the skillet onto the fire.

"He's right, you know!" Killua sang out, flaring up to push the pan away with a surprisingly physical force. "Not to mention, I'm a great and powerful fire demon! I don't cook!"

"Oh, well, in that case," Leorio narrowed his eyes and grinned wickedly, "maybe I'll just tell Kurapika about our little bargain and see what _he_ thinks about it."

Killua's blaze dropped so fast that the skillet slammed into the embers, sending sparks skittering across the ash-covered hearth. "You wouldn't dare," he spat, tongues of blue and white fire licking up and around the sides of the pan as Leorio dropped the first piece of bacon into it.

"I don't know," Leorio shrugged. "I'm an old man with nothing to lose. Who knows what I would or wouldn't dare to do."

"Then here's another curse for you: may all your bacon burn," Killua flared up into white flames one last time before settling into a low blue simmer.

Leorio smirked and stirred the bacon around, using the grease to season the pan before adding anything else in.

He was reaching for the plate of bacon when, with a _click_ of the latch and a _whoosh_ of gentle wind, the door opened and the wizard himself blew into his castle. Leorio glanced at him and his jaw nearly dropped. Striding up the stairs was the blond who had saved him the other day! He was dressed in the same smart blue and gold jacket as he had been that night, and his golden hair was just as disheveled. He almost looked like he had swept straight off the Forger's balcony and through the castle door.

"Master Kurapika! You're back!" Gon cheered, leaping off of his chair and hurrying to the top of the stairs. "You have two notes from Hisoka, via messenger."

"Did you read them?" Kurapika asked, his voice tired.

"No way! Hisoka just has his symbol on the outside." Gon fished through his pockets and handed the two pieces of paper over to Kurapika, who skimmed them quickly.

"Who is this?" Kurapika barely glanced at Leorio as he joined him at the hearth. "How did he manage to get you to cooperate so well, Killua?"

"He BULLIED me!" Killua roared, flaring up again into a spark-ridden white blaze that shoved Leorio aside.

"That's not an easy thing to do," Kurapika smiled. "Allow me," he took the pan from Leorio. "Pass me two more strips of bacon and six eggs, please. Gon! Put the kettle on for tea, would you? Now, who are you?"

Leorio gulped. "Uh, why don't you just call me Grandpa Leorio? I guess I'm your new housekeeper. Killua hired me to start today. He's ashamed at what a state this place is in."

Kurapika laughed musically, cracking the last egg into the skillet and tossing the shell to Killua. "I guess that's alright. Just don't get too carried away with your cleaning."

While Kurapika finished cooking breakfast, Leorio helped Gon clear more space at the table and find clean dishes to set it with. The latter task was the most difficult of the morning. Finally, they sat down with three mostly-clean plates and cups, two spoons, and a fork. Kurapika gave them each a slice of bacon and two eggs, along with a slice of bread from the loaf Gon had fetched earlier, and said a brief grace before they dug in. Leorio arched an eyebrow as he watched Gon scarf down his food. _The manners around here are as bad as the mess._

"So, Leorio," Kurapika's soft voice snapped Leorio out of his thoughts. "What's that in your pocket?"

"Huh?" Leorio's brow furrowed. He reached into his pocket and found, sure enough, a folded-up square of paper. _How did he even know that was there?_ he wondered as he passed the paper to Kurapika.

Kurapika unfolded the paper, but jerked his hand back as it burst into flames. It fluttered down to the table, leaving behind a scorch mark on the tabletop. "That can't be good for the table," Kurapika murmured, swiping a hand over the scorch mark. It vanished, and Leorio let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"What was that? Something else from Hisoka?" Gon peered at the spot where the scorch mark had been.

"No," Kurapika sighed, standing up and carrying his plate over to the fire. "A message from the Head Spider."

Gon nearly choked on his food. "_The Head Spider?_" he squawked. "What did it say?"

"Oh, just another of his threats," Kurapika sighed. "He's still angry about what I did to Omokage. No matter. He can't find us here." He scraped his breakfast into the fire, and Killua snapped it up eagerly. "Killua, make hot water for the bath, please. And move the castle a few kilometers; you be the judge of where we'll be safe."

Killua grumbled to himself as he flared up, reaching flame-formed hands, tipped with flashing white sparks, for a log stacked on the edge of the hearth. "As if moving the castle wasn't enough, I have to heat water too," the demon grumbled.

"Gon, who's the Head Spider?" Leorio asked.

"The Spiders are a gang of evil wizards," Gon said grimly. "Their leader is called the Head Spider. Master Kurapika has sworn to wipe them all out, and he and the Head Spider hate each other. I don't really know why; Master Kurapika doesn't like to talk about it."

Leorio nodded, thinking back to the man who had cursed him back in the infirmary. _Was that the Head Spider? Or one of the others? Why come after me?_

"Hey, Leorio?" Gon's voice was soft, timid. "You don't… you don't work for the Spiders, do you?"

Leorio smiled kindly down at him. "Absolutely not. I would never work for someone like that." He took a bite of his now-cold food. "Eat up. We have a lot of work to do today."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, all! So sorry for the long time between updates! I had been in "writing mode" for a few months or so, and then Christmas happened... Meaning that from early/mid October until early/mid January, I was busy building, running, and striking the Christmas show at work. I was doing six 12+ hours a day at work, and had no time or energy to write, and even after that ended, January was still busy with touring shows and other events, and I still lacked the energy and, even more importantly, the motivation to write. But! I'm currently laid off until at least May 16th (probably longer, realistically), so I'm trying to push myself to write more, and for more fandoms. I'm pretty sure it's been like a year and a half, if not longer, since I updated some of my fics ^^; so, one of my Quarantine goals is to finish a few in-progress stories, and get lots of stuff posted! Hopefully my creative run lasts a while, because I have lots of stuff I want to write and share!**

**Disclaimer: See ch. 1. Cross-posting to and AO3 as ChocolatteKitty_Kat, and Tumblr as maliciousbubbl3s.**

**.*.*.*.*.*.**

Somehow, saying 'we have a lot of work to do today' turned out to be an understatement. Leorio and Gon started by sorting through the piles of junk heaped around the main room. Gon told him what was okay to be thrown out, what needed to be kept, and what really should be in one of the other rooms upstairs. Unsurprisingly, most of the debris turned out to be garbage.

When the real trash had been sorted from the slightly-less-trash, Leorio set about finding homes for everything. He left Gon at the sink with the towering stacks of dirty dishes and an ample supply of soap, and started organizing the books, journals, trinkets, magical charms (according to Gon), spell and potion components (also according to Gon), and food first into piles and then onto shelves and into cabinets and drawers.

Once that was done, they moved on to actual cleaning. They dusted, swept, mopped, and wiped every surface in the room. They also built up a pile of laundry, between dirty rags, curtains, blankets, and other assorted fabrics that they found as they worked. This pile formed in the corner near the door, growing as all the other piles receded.

While they cleaned, Leorio intentionally let the fire die down. Killua was extremely unhappy with this turn of events, and made sure to voice his displeasure.

"Old man!" he squawked, down to a small flicker of blue and white, eyes flashing with fury. "Old man! I'm going out over here! Don't you dare let me burn out!"

Leorio sighed and went to the hearth. "Don't worry; you'll be fine," grumbled, using a pair of tongs to scoop what was left of Killua, plus the final log, up and out of the fireplace, depositing him in a nearby bucket. He noticed something heavy, just barely contained by Killua's fire, hanging below the log, but didn't pay much attention to it. _He _is _a demon, after all._

Killua was irate. "Hey! Put me back, you crazy old man. Kurapika! A crazy man with tongs just took me out of the fireplace! Help! Kurapika! _Gon!_"

Leorio ignored the fire demon and started to scrape the heaps of ashes out of the fireplace. He bundled them up in an old blanket, tied the whole thing together at the top, and took it outside to pile with the rest of the garbage.

When Leorio returned, he found Kurapika holding what was left of Killua in his cupped hands. He blew into the flame, tossed a few logs into the fireplace, and deposited Killua on top of the fresh wood. Without a word, he turned towards the door.

Kurapika looked fresh and clean, and was dressed in new clothes. He'd even cut his hair; instead of the tangled, overgrown fringe Leorio had seen before, there was now an even row of short bangs, just long enough to brush against his eyebrows. He tucked his hair behind his ear, a dangling ruby earring catching the light, and offered a bright smile to Leorio and Gon. "Well, I'm off. I have some business to take care of. Leorio, remember—don't get too carried away with your cleaning!" He turned the knob on the door to the color black and _whooshed_ out with a gust of wind. The door slammed shut behind him, and the dial clicked back over to red.

When Leorio turned back to Gon, he saw the sad look on the boy's face before he wiped it away.

"Hey, old man!" Killua roared from the hearth, full of vigor now that he was licking at several dry logs. "You better watch out! If I die, I take Kurapika with me!"

Leorio winced. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah well, there's a lot of things you don't know about us, grandpa," Killua's face narrowed into a scowl and he settled himself on top of the logs.

Leorio glanced down at a tug on his pant leg. Gon was staring up at him, amber eyes wide and earnest. "It looks really great in here, Leorio! I don't think I've ever seen the castle this clean!"

Leorio grinned proudly. "Thank you, Gon." He rested his hands on his hips, not even realizing that he had been able to almost completely straighten his spine. "You know, seeing how great this place looks has given me a fresh burst of energy! Let's get started on the upstairs!"

Gon ran ahead of him and barred the stairs bravely. "You can't go up there!"

Leorio arched a fluffy grey eyebrow and leaned in close, grinning wickedly. "If there's anything you don't want thrown out, better hide it now."

Gon groaned and hopped from foot to foot, looking back and forth between Leorio and the top of the stairs. "Ugh, fine! Just… do my room last!" He spun and bolted up the stairs, nearly tripping in his haste.

Leorio laughed and fetched the broom, mop, and a bucket of fresh water before following Gon up. The upper story was no cleaner than the room downstairs. Cobwebs and dust clung to the walls so thickly that Leorio wasn't sure what color they were even intended to be, literal piles of dirt and bits of litter lined the baseboards, and discarded shoes, clothing, books, and even the odd toy—_where in the world did those come from?—_were scattered among the other debris. It was also extremely stuffy upstairs, so Leorio headed for a door that looked like it led outside, rather than to another room.

It took some doing to wrench the door open, but, once he did, Leorio was presented with the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. The scenery flew past them, a whirl of reds and oranges and browns and yellows, and even the odd pink and green, as they trundled along past a huge, sprawling forest. The grass under the castle's feet was still green, but going brown at the tips as the autumn weather grew colder. Above them, the sky was a rich and deep blue, broken only by a few cottony wisps of pure white clouds. Off in the distance, in the same direction the castle seemed to be heading, was a large blue lake, sparkling brilliantly in the sunlight, reflecting the color of the sky almost perfectly.

Leorio ducked back inside. "Hey, Killua! You're the one moving the castle, right?"

"Who else do you think would be doing it?" the fire demon roared back.

"Well, it's amazing! Keep up the good work!"

Unseen by his companions, Killua blushed proudly, his blue and white flames turning beautiful shades of purple and pink. "He thinks I'm amazing!" the fire was literally glowing, far brighter than before, as he began to lick upwards, encouraging the castle to move faster and more steadily.

Upstairs, Leorio leaned against the balcony railing, taking in the gorgeous scenery. A little while later, Gon joined him, cobwebs in his dark hair and dust on his clothes.

"Gon, do you know where we are?"

"Sure! The forest is the edge of the Visca Forest Preserve, which is a protected wildlife and biological area. That lake is part of the Milsy Wetlands."

"I don't think I've ever seen anything so gorgeous," Leorio breathed.

They were interrupted from their reverie by a shriek and a loud _squawk_, followed by a flurry of white feathers and a _thud._

_You've gotta be fucking with me._

Leorio glared at the giant bird, which had leapt deftly from the ground, across several points on the castle's side, and finally landed gracefully on the balcony beside them. Gon yelped and ducked behind Leorio. "What's that!?"

Leorio sighed. "She's been following me around since I was in the Wastes. I'd've thought she found something better to do after I left, but apparently not."

Gon quickly overcame his fear and stepped forward, offering his hand out to the bird, who immediately began to pack at it. He laughed. "Can we keep her?"

Leorio arched an eyebrow. "You forget: I'm not in charge around here. Take it up with Kurapika, when he gets back." He sighed as the bird gave him an alarmingly mournful look. "I guess that until he gets back, she can hang around. But not inside! I just cleaned, I don't want her tracking anything on the floors."

"Yay!" Gon cheered. "Hey, you need a name! I'm going to call you Chickey, okay? Nice to meet you Chickey; I'm Gon!"

.*.*.*.*.*.

Killua settled the castle near the lake that Leorio and Gon had spotted earlier, overlooking it and some mountains off in the distance. Once they were settled, Leorio and Gon got to work washing the laundry that had piled up while they cleaned, scrubbing it in the crystal clear water of the lake before hanging it on lines to dry—lines which Chickey was all too happy to stretch out, gripping one end on her beak while the other remained attached to the castle and running around with reckless abandon. They sat down to a late lunch on the bank of the lake, watching the sun as it began to brush against the mountain peaks. Silence fell between them as they listened to birdsong in the distance and the waves lapping against the shore. Leorio felt himself begin to nod off.

"Hey, Leorio?" Gon said finally.

"What is it, Gon?"

"Are you… are you going to stay with us for a while?"

Leorio stared out at the sunset. "You know, I think I just might."

.*.*.*.*.*.

Late that night, after Leorio had made himself as comfortable as possible on a short couch tucked into an alcove in the kitchen, the knob of the door slowly _clicked_ over to the black section of the dial on the wall. In the silence of the night, the door opened almost without a sound, and a great beast stepped into the castle. Its steps were solid, but made little sound. Black fur fluttered weightlessly around its body. Red eyes glowed from its face. It passed through the room without a sound, then finally settled in the same chair Leorio had occupied the night before, propping its feet up on the hearth.

"Welcome back," Killua flickered gently. "You look awful."

Oh-so-slowly, the creature began to transform. The black fur retreated, slowly changing into dirty white, blue, and gold clothes. The hair on the head grew and turned golden. His face and clothes were streaked with dirt and soot. "We won't have to worry about the Spiders for a few days, at least."

"Hm," Killua reached out to grab a log from a pile on the edge of the hearth. "Check it out! Leorio put these here for me."

"Killua," Kurapika said softly. "The Spiders will find us before too much longer."

"Yeah, well, you're going too far with your whole 'vengeance and retribution' thing," Killua snapped. "You'll get yourself killed long before they find us. And where will that leave the rest of us? I'll be dead too, in case you'd forgotten our terms. Gon will be all alone when that happens. And what about Leorio? You said he could stay; that means he's under my protection, whether I like him or not. If we die, what happens to him? You know, the Head Spider put a curse on him. If we die, do you really think Chrollo will just let him go?"

Kurapika sighed and sat up. "Heat up some water, will you? I need a bath." He opened his eyes, revealing red irises that slowly shifted back to blue as he stood and turned for the stairs. He paused to peer into the alcove where Leorio was sleeping. A slight smile played over his lips at the sight of a tall, gangly man crammed onto a far too small sofa, all arms and legs and looking considerably taller and younger than he had that morning. Kurapika let the curtain fall back into place and went to the stairs. "Killua, don't worry," he said softly, foot on the bottom step. "I'll release you from your contract before I die. Just promise me that you'll get the two of them somewhere safe before you go."

"Yeah, yeah," Killua grumbled. "Although I'd really just rather you didn't die in the first place."

Kurapika gave him a small, sad smile. "Some things are inevitable, Killua."


	5. Chapter 5

In the morning, Leorio woke and found it nearly impossible to move. Every joint in his body seemed to have swollen and stiffened up. _That's the last time I sleep on this couch. If I'm going to stick around here, I need a real bed. I'm old, damnit!_ He eventually managed to haul himself up, popping and creaking like never before, and stumble out into the kitchen.

"Leorio," Killua's voice was grim and soft. "You need to figure out a way to break my and Kurapika's contract. For all our sakes."

Leorio blinked owlishly. "Is… is Kurapika back?"

"Yeah, and not looking too great either," Killua grumbled, snatching another log and pulling it towards himself. "Not to mention he's using up my hot water again!"

.*.*.*.*.*.

Kurapika barely stayed the day before leaving again. Leorio watched him go, trying to keep his concern from showing. _It's not like we're friends or anything. Why should I care what happens to him?_ But, over the next days and weeks, the more he watched Kurapika come and go, the more worried he got when the wizard left.

One morning, when Kurapika stayed in bed later than normal, Leorio and Gon ventured out into the port to go grocery shopping. It was a fine, crisp morning; a little colder than Leorio's elderly body would have preferred, but it was still nice. It was his first time in the port. They tended to get most of their food by gathering and laying traps in the Wastes around the lake where the castle was still parked, and occasionally ventured into Swaldani, but today Leorio was determined to fry some fish for breakfast—and Gon hadn't had any luck catching some in the increasingly sparsely-populated lake the day before—so off to Port Zaban they went. The road outside the castle's magic door, which was set into the wall of a decrepit old brick building, sloped down directly to the sea, leading straight to the harbor itself. Leorio caught his breath as he stood at the top of the hill, looking out over the sea. It stretched out farther than he could see or imagine, speckled with white foam and ship's sails and utterly sparkling in the autumn sunshine.

"Come on, Leorio!" Gon was already halfway down the slope.

"Slow down!" Leorio grumbled, leaning heavily on his staff as he stumbled down the hill. Gon hurried back up and offered Leorio his arm to lean on, helping him traverse the terrain far more easily. "There we are. Thank you, Gon."

Leorio had managed to talk Gon out of wearing his full bearded disguise for the morning, but the boy had insisted on keeping his cape on and hood up. Even as Leorio called him by name, he glanced around suspiciously. "Don't say my name in public like that," he hissed. "The Spiders have spies everywhere. They could be watching us now. We don't want to lead them back to… home."

Leorio arched an eyebrow, wondering how seriously he should take Gon's words. He shrugged it off and headed for the already-bustling market by the wharf. The green-clad boy tagged along closely behind Leorio, who was hunched over his staff and hobbling slightly. The steep hill had taken far more out of him than he wanted to admit. _Old age is for the birds_, he grumbled to himself, checking out the stalls as they walked. The little market was stuffed to the brim with farmers selling produce, fishermen selling fish, and everything in between and beyond. Leorio stopped at a stall selling, for some reason, _only _potatoes and root vegetables. _Oddly specific set of wares_, he thought, picking through a huge basket of potatoes for a few large, good-looking ones.

"Pay up," he instructed Gon, heading off towards a fisherman who had just finished setting up his stand.

Gon handed a few coins to the vendor and hurried after Leorio. "I don't get what you're making all this fuss over anyways," he sighed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Kurapika hardly eats anything anyways. He's not likely to eat breakfast, even if he's still there when we get back."

"Well, that just means more for us," Leorio grumped back, picking a fish up by the mouth and examining it closely, hoping that he at least looked like he knew what he was doing.

He was checking out another fish when a commotion began to rise on the pier behind them.

"Look! A ship!" someone cried.

"The battleship is returning!" an excited teenager stopped by the stall, directing his words to the fish-seller before darting into the growing crowd.

"It's back already!?" the fishman yelped. "Sorry, grandpa, I'm closed!" The last was shouted over his shoulder as he squeezed out from behind the table and hurried out onto the pier.

"Leorio, let's go look!" Gon tugged on Leorio's sleeve, craning his neck to see between and around the people in the crowd.

"No, thank you," Leorio said fiercely. "I don't have the stomach for things like that."

Despite his protest, Gon grabbed him by the arm and towed him into the crowd growing on the wharf. They watched in awe as a huge battleship drifted into the bay, flames sprouting from its sides as sailors leapt from the decks. Fishermen returning with their catch brought their boats as close to the flaming ship as they dared to help the sailors onto their own boats. Many of the men and boys on the dock hurried to rowboats and smaller vessels and joined the fishing boats in rescuing the crew of the battleship. Leorio glanced around warily. While he had dismissed Gon's earlier paranoia about the Spiders, the crowd made even him nervous, although Gon was now completely enraptured by the spectacle in the bay.

They waited through several long moments of bated-breath silence, the gathering on the docks effectively shell-shocked by the war that had so suddenly become real to them. It was only after these minutes that Leorio caught a glimpse of them through the throng around them. A tall man with a large black topknot, carrying a long sword, stood next to a woman with spiky pink hair. Unlike the rest of the people around them, they weren't focused on the spectacle in the bay, but were instead staring directly at Gon and Leorio.

Leorio gasped and grabbed Gon by the arm, yanking him back behind the shelter of a merchant's stall.

"Hey!" Gon yelped, snapped out of his reverie. "What was that for?"

"The Spiders," Leorio hissed. "They're here."

"Where?" Gon's demeanor shifted instantly into something cold that Leorio hadn't seen before.

"Over there," Leorio gestured vaguely. "A man with a sword and a pink-haired woman."

"Nobunaga and Machi," Gon scowled. "We should go."

Leorio nodded. They waited until the crowd began to flock to the docks to help the injured sailors off of the rescue boats, and then dashed back the way they had come, towards the hill street that would take them back to the magic door. Leorio didn't see the man and woman again, but he did catch a glimpse of a big man in a tracksuit next to a small figure in an oversized black coat as they darted through the crowd. Like the first pair, these two were focused on Leorio and Gon instead of the chaos around them. Leorio lost sight of them as a few townspeople got between them, and when he looked again, the two Spiders were gone. He didn't have much of an opportunity to think about it, however, as several shrill whistles and loud splashes sounded from the bay behind them. Leorio glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the explosions erupt from the water, the shockwaves sending him and Gon staggering into the wall next to them.

"What was that!?" Gon cried out, clutching at Leorio's sleeve.

"Bombs," Leorio said grimly. He'd treated enough injuries from explosive weapons in the infirmary to last several lifetimes, but had never actually expected to be anywhere near a bomb when it went off. He suddenly missed his comparably peaceful life back at the infirmary, and wondered suddenly about Melody and Zepile.

"Up there!" a voice cried.

Leorio and Gon looked up. Sure enough, a battleship was floating over the town. As they watched, a hatch in the back opened, and something began to flutter out of it. Leorio didn't wait to see what it was; he grabbed Gon and began towing him up the hill as fast as he could move, panting as his lungs burned in his chest from the exertion. Gon was, in a rare occurrence, completely silent. The further they got from the port, the quieter everything got. It seemed like the entire town was either down at the wharf or holed up inside their homes-not that Leorio blamed them. And he was glad for the emptiness in the street; while it made the two of them stand out all the more, it should also make it easier to spot any Spiders that were tailing them.

Fortunately, they made it back to the magic door without further incident. Gon opened it, and they both tumbled inside, Leorio only making it up two of the steps before he collapsed, gasping for breath.

"Leorio! What's wrong?" Gon asked, rushing to his side.

"Water," Leorio gasped. He dragged himself up the rest of the stairs with Gon's help and dropped heavily into the chair in front of Killua's hearth while the boy hurried to get him a glass of water.

The white fire perked up, peering curiously at them with wide blue eyes. "What happened?"

"There were bombs!" Gon explained excitedly. Now that it was all in the past, he was back to his usual cheerful self. "They fell into the water, and there was a battleship on fire and the sailors were jumping out of it, and"-

"Killua, is Kurapika here?" Leorio interrupted Gon's chatter.

"Yeah, he's upstairs," Killua gestured vaguely with a tendril of white flame.

Leorio nodded and hauled himself to his feet. He left Gon to fill Killua in on the morning's events and dragged himself up the stairs in search of the wizard himself. On the second floor, the only room that Leorio had never cleaned, or even entered, was Kurapika's bedroom. It seemed best to leave the wizard's things alone, to give the odd man his privacy, but Leorio didn't care about that now. When he came to the door, he lifted a hand, but paused before knocking. _What am I afraid of?_ He berated himself. _What'll he do to me for warning him about the Spiders? It's not like I'm doing anything wrong._ He nodded firmly and gave the door a sharp knock.

No response.

Leorio waited a long minute, and then knocked again, with the same result. After a long pause, he reached out and turned the doorknob. Almost to his surprise, it turned readily. He had half-expected the door to be locked. "Kurapika?" he called softly, opening the door halfway and taking a timid step in. The room was dark, but an eerie red light shone from the wall to his left. Leorio opened the door fully and took another step in. "Kurapika?" he called again. Still no reply. He looked around.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Leorio found himself drawn towards the glowing red wall. He stepped closer to it, and gasped as he finally realized where the light was coming from. The wall had long shelves built to fill the entirety of it, and the shelves were almost completely filled with jars. That wasn't the disturbing part, though-what sent a sick, twisting sensation through Leorio's gut was the contents of the jars. Bobbing in some kind of clear fluid were glowing red eyeballs. Most jars held only one, but a few larger jars held pairs. Leorio took another step closer, rubbing his own eyes to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Sure enough, as the red smears left behind when he opened his eyes cleared back up, he was staring at an entire wall of jars full of red eyes.

"What the…" he mumbled, reaching out for one of the nearest jars.

"_Get out_."

Leorio nearly jumped out of his skin as the low voice practically growled behind him. "What the hell is this?" he demanded, mouth and throat suddenly bone-dry, of the slight man silhouetted in the doorway.

"Get out," Kurapika repeated, taking an unsteady step into the room.

"No," Leorio drew himself up, anger coursing through him. "Not until you explain what all of this is."

"I don't have to explain anything to you," Kurapika snapped. "You're nothing but a foolish old man, involving yourself in matters that have nothing to do with you."

Leorio scowled. "I guess you're right. I am just a foolish old man, and this really doesn't have anything to do with me. I can leave at any time, and wash my hands of this whole business. And honestly, if it weren't for that little boy down there I would have left days ago. But Gon deserves something remotely normal in his life, some semblance of a healthy relationship. Whatever all this"-he waved his arm frantically at the wall of eyes behind him-"is, he deserves better."

Kurapika shook his head and turned his back to Leorio. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"No?" Leorio demanded, striding forward. "You know what I came up here to tell you? That while we were in the market today, we saw some of the Spiders. They were watching us. I'm pretty sure we only got away because an enemy ship dropped bombs into the harbor. I know what the Spiders are. I'd heard of them even before I came here. Gon is a _child_, and they're hunting him to get to you. He didn't even want me to call him by name while we were out, in case they heard. He's afraid of them. Kids shouldn't have to be afraid like that. They should be afraid of things like spiders and the dark. Not of mass-murdering super villains trying to hunt them down and kill them."

"If that's how you feel, then just leave," Kurapika mumbled.

"I told you, I'm not leaving Gon"-

"Then take him with you," Kurapika snapped. He whirled around, and Leorio took an involuntary step back as he found himself staring down into a pair of glowing red eyes, just like the ones on the wall behind him. "Take him and leave. Get out. I don't need you, I don't need either of you. I had always planned on fighting this fight alone. That's how I started it, and that's how I'll end it. So take him, and go. I don't care. Just get out."

Leorio took a slow step towards the door. "I don't think you mean that," he said softly.

"Get out!" Kurapika roared. Leorio heard the sound of chains rattling, although he couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"Kurapika…" Leorio started.

"LEAVE!" Kurapika bellowed. Something sharp and metallic hit the wood of the doorframe beside Leorio's head, and he turned on his heel and ran, bolting down the hallway, and then the steps to the kitchen.

Gon was seated on the floor beside the fireplace, and both the boy and the demon stared at Leorio as he clattered down the stairs. "Gon, get whatever you want to bring along that you can carry. We're leaving." Leorio called the order over his shoulder as he ducked into his alcove to gather his own belongings.

"Leaving!?" Killua yelled, bursting upwards into a roaring blaze. "You can't just leave!"

"It's what Kurapika wants," Leorio snapped. He shoved the last of his things into his rucksack, pulled on his jacket, wrapped his long scarf around his neck, and turned around, only to find Gon still sitting on the floor next to the hearth, staring up at Leorio with watery eyes. "Come on, Gon. We should get going. It's late; we need to leave now if we want to find somewhere safe to stay for the night."

Gon bit his lip and shook his head. "No," he whispered, his voice thick.

"Gon, come on," Leorio set down his rucksack and knelt down beside the boy, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving," Gon sniffled, staring down at his hands in his lap.

"Gon, it's not safe here. We have to go."

"No!" Gon pulled away. He looked up at Leorio, tears streaming down his face. "I'm not going. I can't. Kurapika needs me, even if he doesn't think he does, even if he doesn't remember… He needs me. He needs you too. He needs both of us, or I'm afraid what might happen."

"He's right, you know," Killua said softly after a beat had passed. "I know more about Kurapika than anyone alive. I can see and feel exactly what he's doing to himself, because… well, just because. And maybe he doesn't think he needs you, and he doesn't really deserve you either, but… If you two leave, it'll be just me and him, and trust me when I say that that's _definitely_ not healthy."

Leorio stood up. "I didn't come here to take care of a snooty wizard who can't be bothered to take care of himself. He doesn't want me here, and I don't want to be here, so I guess I'm going to go. I wish the two of you the best of luck." He picked up the rucksack and headed to the door. He turned the knob to open the door to the Wastes. Outside, it was foggy and wet, complete with pouring rain. It was later than he'd realized, almost completely dark outside. He looked back at the warm, inviting room one more time, taking it all in. The weathered table, Gon's magic cloak on its peg, the curtain over his little alcove. Killua's hearth. Gon, still sitting hunched forward into himself, his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, back to Leorio and the door. Killua, on the other hand, stared at Leorio, something not quite readable written in his blue eyes. The fire burned low, mostly blue just barely tipped in white, with little electrical sparks bouncing off of the embers. Leorio lifted a hand in farewell, but Killua only closed his eyes and turned away.


	6. Chapter 6

Outside, Leorio stepped into the cold rain. It instantly soaked through his clothes and started to run down his neck and along his spine. The cold seemed to seep deep into his bones, and he felt himself hunch forward, aches and pains setting into his body with a renewed vigor. He made it to the shore of the lake, and stared out over it, allowing the sharp chill to overtake him, numbing him to the well of emotions bubbling up inside of him. _Just when you think you've found the place you belong, something happens to drive you away from it_, he thought bitterly. _First the infirmary, now here. Every time I get close to people, I end up having to leave them behind._ He didn't even feel the tears start to leave his eyes as they mingled with the rain running down his face.

Leorio did, however, when the rain stopped soaking him quite so thoroughly. He glanced up and smiled softly. "Thanks, Chickey," he reached out to scratch the side of the giant bird, who had stretched one of her wings out over his head like an umbrella. "It's good to have a friend like you."

Leorio glanced back over his shoulder at the castle. He had no idea how long he'd been standing outside in the rain, but he was completely drenched, and his nose and feet were numb. He had to force his legs to move to take a step, and they burned with a cold fire when he did. "Why didn't I storm out through the Port Zaban or Swaldani door?" he groaned to himself (and Chickey) as he did his best to get his old body moving again.

"Leorio!"

He thought he was imagining the sound of his name in the wind swirling around him, but when he heard it a second time, he turned to look for the source. Gon was running towards him through the pouring rain, looking frantic.

"Gon? What's wrong?" Leorio turned back towards the boy.

Gon caught up to him and grabbed his sleeve, yanking him back towards the castle. "Leorio, come quick, please! It's Kurapika. He collapsed."

Leorio took a deep breath, but hurried after the boy. The castle was all the warmer for having been outside for so long, and he shucked his rucksack, scarf, and coat by the fireside before hurrying up after Gon.

"Hurry, Leorio!" Killua called after them, grabbing for the logs nearest to him and pulling them into his flame.

Upstairs, they found Kurapika crumpled on the floor of his room. "Gon, downstairs in my rucksack, get my medical bag," Leorio instructed the boy as he bent down to scoop Kurapika up into his arms. He laid the wizard-who was somehow even smaller and lighter than he looked-down on the bed and got to work.

.*.*.*.*.*.

"Will Kurapika be alright?"

Leorio glanced up. He hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep in the chair by his patient's bedside until Gon had woken him up. He stood up and stretched, wincing at the stabbing pains that accompanied the stiffness acquired by sitting in the chair for so long. "I hope so," he said, half-surprised to discover that he actually meant that. Despite their argument, he had realized that he was actually starting to care for the wizard. "He has a fever," Leorio explained, ushering Gon out of the room and closing the door gently behind them so as not to disturb Kurapika. "He's very weak. I didn't realize how poorly he's been taking care of himself. I should've been keeping a better eye on him, but I didn't think it was my place."

"Killua said he's weak," Gon nodded. "But it's not your fault, Leorio. Kurapika's stubborn. He has been for as long as I've known him. If you'd have tried to make him do something he didn't want to do, it probably wouldn't have ended well."

Leorio smiled. "Thank you, Gon. Now, why don't you go get some sleep? This might be a long night before his fever breaks."

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio had no idea how true his words would be. Kurapika's temperature lowered slightly, but he remained fevery, unconscious, and delirious in his few waking moments for the next three days. Leorio and Gon did what they could to keep him comfortable, usually by keeping him heavily bundled in blankets when he started shivering with cold flashes or by draping cool, damp cloths on his forehead when his fever rose. They would drip water onto his lips at least once an hour, trying to keep him somewhat hydrated, although his dry and cracked lips seemed to indicate that these efforts were in vain.

Three days after their fight, Leorio had nodded off in the chair by Kurapika's bedside again when a soft cough woke him. His head snapped up and he looked around for the source before his eyes landed on Kurapika. Unbidden, a small smile flickered across his lips. "Welcome back."

Kurapika turned his head towards Leorio, the small movement seeming to take a monument of effort. His blue eyes were droopy with exhaustion, but clear. Leorio reached out and brushed the back of his hand against the wizard's forehead. It was no longer hot to the touch. Leorio fished his thermometer out of his medical bag. "Open," he ordered. Kurapika obeyed without protest, allowing Leorio to stick the thermometer under his tongue. Leorio fished one of Kurapika's arms out from under the pile of blankets and placed two fingers over the pale wrist to take his pulse. Even though he was focusing his attention on his watch, timing the fluttering heartbeats under his fingers, he could feel Kurapika's eyes boring a hole into his forehead. Satisfied with his reading, he took the thermometer back and nodded at the reading on it. "It's about time. You're finally back down to a normal human temperature."

"Why are you here?" Kurapika's voice was hoarse, and another cough followed the question.

Leorio sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently, he pulled the blankets back and helped Kurapika to a sitting position, then lifted a glass of water to his lips to help him drink. A few sips later, he pulled away and laid Kurapika back down. "I didn't make it very far before Gon came to get me. He told me you'd collapsed. I was studying to be a doctor before… Well, when I was younger. I could never leave someone who needed my help behind." He stood up and stepped towards the door. "I'm sure you're hungry. I'll go heat up some broth. You probably wouldn't be able to stomach much more than that. Hate me all you want, but I won't leave someone in your state to fend for themselves, and I won't leave Gon on his own with you this weak. You couldn't protect him if he needed it. Once you're stronger, I'll leave, if that's what you want."

Leorio shut the door behind him and took a moment to lean against it, eyes closed. He sighed. _I'll leave, if that's what you want. Even if it's not what I want._

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio couldn't help but be impressed by how quickly Kurapika recovered. He had a sneaking suspicion that most of it was a show, put on for his benefit, but he accepted it nonetheless. There was no better medicine than sheer stubbornness, his mentor, Cheadle, had joked once. Kurapika seemed to be proving her right. He improved in leaps and bounds over the next few days, and was basically back to his old self, albeit a bit more open and kind than he had been before, in under a week. However, Killua informed Leorio that the majority of this was basically bravado on Kurapika's part.

"Underneath it all, his heart is still very weak," Killua explained, late one night after Kurapika and Gon were sound asleep in their beds upstairs.

"His heart?" Leorio was confused. "His pulse always seems so strong, but I don't exactly have the equipment to look for murmurs or defects or diseases, I guess."

"No, you idiot, not his _literal_ heart," Killua snapped, shooting a few white sparks at Leorio, who deftly avoided them. "His _figurative_ heart. Or, spiritual, maybe. Whatever. His spirit. His soul. Whatever you want to call it. The place where he gets his power from. I'm the only thing keeping the castle and all of us hidden right now. If the Spiders get wind of us, I won't be able to keep us safe, at least not for long. I'm just a fire, bound to this fireplace. I can't fight them off."

"What do I do?" Leorio asked, frustrated. "I don't know how to help someone's spirit. I'm a doctor, not a priest, dammit!"

"You don't need to be a priest," Killua sighed, rolling his eyes. Leorio took a moment to appreciate what an odd idea that was, a fire rolling its eyes-much less, a fire having eyes. "Kurapika's been broken. More than once, probably. It's not my place to tell you what happened, and I don't think I could anyways, based on your contract. But maybe something that would help is getting Kurapika to trust you. Losing people breaks the heart. Maybe finding people he can trust and love again-like you and Gon-will help him."

Leorio sighed and looked into the embers below Killua's fire. "How do I get the most mysterious person in the world to trust me?" he mused.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, friends! I'm really trying to get this story finished and posted, but I've hit a little bit of a wall. But, never fear! I'm rewatching HxH and Howl's Moving Castle in an attempt to get back into the groove of this story, so hopefully I'll be able to continue moving on more quickly in the near future. My rough estimate for the total length of this story is about 12-15 chapters, which means we're about halfway through! Yay!**

**.*.*.*.*.*.**

"Okay, breathe in," Leorio instructed, pressing his stethoscope against Kurapika's back. "And again. One more time." Satisfied with what he heard, he pulled away, folding the stethoscope up and tucking it away in his bag. "Sounds great. In my professional opinion, you're just about back to normal."

"Thanks," Kurapika mumbled, turning away to pull on his shirt.

Leorio nodded awkwardly, unseen, and turned to pack up his equipment.

"Now that I'm on the mend, I guess you'll be leaving again?"

Leorio glanced over his shoulder. Kurapika was staring at him, arms crossed and blue eyes piercing. "If that's what you want," he sighed, turning back towards his things. "I can be gone by tonight."

"You don't have to leave," Kurapika said. Something in his voice sounded off, like he didn't quite want to say the words, but was doing so anyways. "Gon likes you. So does Killua. So, you can stay, so long as you keep away from my things."

"You mean the eyes?" Leorio snapped his bag shut. "Don't worry, I don't want to have anything to do with those." He headed for the door.

"They're not what you think," Kurapika called after him.

"What?" Leorio turned back towards the wizard.

"The eyes," Kurapika said. "I suppose you think they're some sort of evil ritual, like voodoo or something?"

"Nothing that involves human body parts could ever be a good kind of magic," Leorio said firmly.

"Would it help if I said that I wasn't the one using them for magical purposes?" Kurapika asked.

"Then why do you have them?" Leorio's brow furrowed.

"Have you ever heard of the Scarlet Eyes, or the Kurta clan?" Kurapika asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed and staring at the eyes lining the opposite wall.

"I remember hearing about a clan massacred in the mountains, years ago," Leorio mused. "I'd forgotten the name, but Kurta sounds right."

"Yes, those were my people," Kurapika sighed. "They were murdered for their eyes."

"Why?"

"I suppose you've seen mine turn red a few times by now," Kurapika said. "It's a genetic ability. It allows us to harness and focus far more magical power than just about anyone else, although it only happens when we're feeling extreme emotions."

"That doesn't exactly explain all of those, though," Leorio gestured at the shelves.

"If we're killed while in a state of heightened emotion, our eyes stay red," Kurapika explained. "Once upon a time, someone figured out that if they harvested and preserved the Scarlet Eyes, they could use them as spellcasting focuses to enhance their own power. After that, my people became hunted. They withdrew to the mountains, relying on their powers to protect them. Few ever left the village.

"When I was a child, I was considered something of a magical prodigy. My parents wanted to send me to a school of wizardry to study. They were convinced I would be one of the greatest wizards of all time." Here, he rolled his eyes, but kept talking. "It took them years to convince the council of the village to let me leave. I still remember the discussions. When they felt I was old enough, they started taking me along to the meetings. Anyways, in the end, my parents won out, and I left my village, the first in a generation to do so, to go and study magic at one of the most prestigious schools in the world.

"I don't know how they found the village. It was two years after I left that the rumors started. The Phantom Troupe, a group of thirteen evil wizards also known as the Spiders, were claiming that they had wiped out the Kurta clan and stolen the Scarlet Eyes. No-one really believed them, but when more and more of the Eyes began to appear on the black market, people started to. Expeditions were sent into the mountains in search of the village, but they couldn't find it. Hardly anyone knew that I was part of the clan, but eventually my mentor, one of the few who did know, came to me and asked if I would give them the location of my village so that they could go and find answers. I refused. I didn't trust anyone, and I didn't want to put my people in danger if they were still alive.

"So, I went with the only option I felt that I had left. While my school prepared for the annual convocation, where the graduating students made deals with the demons who would provide them their greatest power-the only way that normal people can get anywhere close to the amount of power held in the Scarlet Eyes, although making a deal with a demon is tricky and decidedly dangerous-I snuck away and went back to my village. The night that I arrived was the night of the convocation.

"I found the village empty of life. In the center of town was a pile of corpses. All of their eyes had been removed." Kurapika looked down at his hands. "I can't even begin to express all of the things I felt in that moment. When the stars began raining down around me as the convocation began-wizards all over the world were summoning demons, and some of them always escaped and fell elsewhere-I looked for a demon strong enough to survive the fall. It was mostly the weak ones that escaped the wizards' nets, but sometimes a stronger one would. Sure enough, I found Killua. I was able to catch him, probably more with luck than anything else, and that was the night we made our deal. My heart in exchange for the power to stop the Spiders."

Suddenly, almost as though he was just realizing what he was saying, Kurapika's mouth snapped shut. His head whipped around and he stared at Leorio with eyes wide, frozen with something akin to fear.

Leorio smiled kindly. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"How can I be sure of that?" Kurapika asked, the softness and vulnerability that had escaped while he talked about his life once again locked behind his tough demeanor.

"What reason would I have to tell anyone else?" Leorio asked. "It's not like I really have anything to lose that they could take away from me. The only people I have to protect are the people in this castle, and by telling your secret, I'd be doing literally the opposite of protecting the three of you."

Kurapika nodded, looking less than thrilled at the idea of trusting Leorio with anything so valuable as this information. "I guess that's alright, then. It's not like I have much of a choice at this point. I either have to trust you or kill you."

Leorio gulped, disliking the casual tone Kurapika had affected for the last statement.

The wizard turned back towards him and winked cheekily. "It was a joke, Leorio. I have no intention of harming you. But, I guess this means that now you'll _have_ to stay. I can't afford to let you leave knowing such valuable information about me. I need you around where I can keep an eye on you."

Leorio relaxed and smiled. "Don't worry. I don't plan on going anywhere."

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio glanced up at the sound of a knock on the door. Before he could even say anything, Gon was clattering down the stairs, heading for his magic cloak on its peg.

"Swaldani door!" Killua sang out.

Leorio tucked himself back into his alcove, but left the curtain open. Kurapika didn't want too many people finding out about him-"Best to have at least one person around who can go out without attracting much attention from the Spiders," he'd said-but he was still curious about the rare visitor at their door.

Gon glanced over his shoulder to make sure the room was clear before pulling up his hood, allowing the big fake beard to pop into existence. On the other side was a child, not much bigger than Gon himself, with short, silky black hair and eerie pink eyes, dressed in a fine silk kimono. "From the magician. Please pass it to the wizard. I'll wait for his response."

"Fine," Gon snapped, snatching the paper offered to him and shutting the door abruptly in the other child's face.

"What was that all about?" Leorio asked, leaning out of the alcove.

"Kurapika!" Gon yelled as he pulled off his cloak and hung it back up. "A letter from Hisoka!"

Leorio didn't really expect Kurapika to reply, but, to his surprise, the wizard soon hurried down the stairs. He took the note from Gon and read it, frowning. "He wants a meeting."

"Why?" Gon demanded, trying to peer at the note in Kurapika's hands.

The wizard's eyes flashed to red. "He has information on the Spiders."

"You can't go!" Killua roared from the fireplace, his white flames licking at the stones around the hearth.

"It could be a trap," Gon agreed. "Hisoka isn't trustworthy. Let me go."

"Absolutely not," Leorio interrupted. "I don't know who this Hisoka guy is, but if it's a trap for Kurapika, there's no way I'm letting you put yourself in that sort of danger, Gon."

"Leorio's right," Kurapika agreed. "Remember, Hisoka's out to get you just as much as everyone else. He thinks you're worth fighting, but you're not ready for that. He may not respect your lack of skill and attack you for your raw power."

"I could take him," Gon puffed up his chest.

"No, you couldn't," Kurapika and Killua chorused.

"What about the old man?" Killua yawned, settling back down over the embers. "Hisoka doesn't know him. And it's not like he has any sort of magical talent. That clown won't consider him worth fighting. There wouldn't be any reason for it; Leorio's too weak."

"Hey!" Leorio protested.

"He has a point, albeit not a very tactful one," Kurapika mused. "Hisoka won't see you as a threat, so he'd have no reason to harm or attack you. And while Hisoka may be… decidedly insane, there is some logic to what he does. He wouldn't spend the energy on an opponent he doesn't deem worthwhile."

Leorio paused for a moment. "Then I'll go."

Kurapika hardly glanced at him. "Absolutely not."

"Look, one of us has to go, and if it can't be either of you, then it's going to have to be me," Leorio snapped. "I'm clearly the safest option anyways. And besides, Kurapika, you're still weaker than normal from your fever."

"I suppose I could disguise myself and follow along to make sure you stay safe," Kurapika mused. "I'll have to wait until you're far enough away that I can slip out without being noticed by your guide or any tails he might have. Then, if it does turn out to be a trap, I can jump in and pull you out to escape. Hopefully the element of surprise will help me overcome any unexpected assailants."

"Sounds like the best plan we'll come up with following someone else's terms spur of the moment," Killua piped up.

"I could come along too, to help fight if you need it," Gon piped up.

"No, Gon, you stay here," Kurapika said.

"But I can help!" the boy protested.

"You'll be the most help here," Kurapika said. "If I have to borrow strength from Killua, you'll have to make sure nothing gets into this place so Leorio and I have a safe place to come back to."

Gon perked up at that and nodded excitedly. "I will, I promise!"

"Good," Kurapika ruffled his hair. "Now, I know we have some homing charms somewhere. Why don't you go find one for Leorio in case we get separated and he has to find his way back on his own?"

"Okay!" Gon hurried off and was soon rifling through the drawers that Leorio had so recently organized.

"Do you really think they might come here?" Leorio kept his voice low.

"It's unlikely," Kurapika said. "And Killua will be plenty strong enough to protect this place. But, it's a reason for him to not sneak out after us, and that's all that matters."

Leorio had to smile at that. _Looks like the wizard really does care about the kid after all_.

"Here you go, Leorio!" Gon cried cheerfully, hurrying back over with a ring. The thick band was silver, covered in odd markings, and with three green stones in the top. Gon handed it to Kurapika, who whispered a few words and blew gently on the stones, which lit up briefly with a soft light before going dark again.

"If you get lost, just think of this place and the ring will guide you back," Kurapika said, taking Leorio's hand in his and slipping the charm onto his ring finger. "And remember, I'll be watching over you."

"I'm not worried," Leorio drew himself up, putting on a brave face. "Like you said, this crazy clown guy has no reason to attack me, so I'm sure it will be fine."

"Right," Kurapika nodded.

Leorio went to the door, but glanced over his shoulder before opening it. Kurapika had slipped back into the alcove, and Gon stood by Killua in the hearth. He took a deep breath and opened the door, looking down at the child still waiting there. "Take me to Hisoka."


End file.
